Tacconelli's Pizzeria

2604 East Somerset Street
Philadelphia, PA 19134-4733
(215) 425-4983
Website

I know it's sacrilegious to follow up the last post with the best pizza ever, but what can I say, I like pies in all of their many forms. So this is the famous Tacconelli's, where you have to call ahead to reserve your dough, they only offer three styles of pizza, and you can get soda to go with it. Bring your own beer or wine (or both!) and come hungry.



The menu is a lot like the restaurant, faded and well weathered. But this place is like the girl at the dance who lets her hair down (when the pizza comes out) and suddenly there is no one more beautiful. The typical slice-joint booths, tile floors and a welcoming but hurried attitude are trademarks of experience. The whole shop turns around one man, and one oven. This translates to, 'your order will come when it comes.' Which is fine. It leaves plenty of time to enjoy that ice cold beer (I went with Budweiser to show my true patriotism) or wine, and speculate on how good the upcoming meal is going to be. We ordered three pies for four people, and although I strongly believe I could have eaten everything, my often broken good sense told me not to. It was a close decision.


First up was the Margherita pie. Fresh basil, fresh mozzarella, and a healthy dose of that utterly perfect pizza sauce. My obvious first mistake, burning my mouth on the first bite. My second mistake, burning my mouth again within fifteen seconds, because I was so excited to get this pizza into my stomach. The crust on all of these pizzas is served well done, and wafer thin. There is no folding involved. It is like perfect pizza ingredients on a perfectly yeasty cracker. The immense heat it undergoes really makes the crust sing, and I was barely able to wait to shove another slice down my throat. It's that good. The simplicity of the Margherita pie really lets the superior ingredients and attention to detail shine.



The next pie up was the the White Pie, which housed salt, black pepper, cheese and a whole smattering of garlic. We added onions and sweet peppers. This pie was also incredibly good, and the peppers and onions were plentiful, and delicious. The garlic really shone through, but was not overpowering and the oil in the cheese helped wilt the onions slightly while the sweet peppers added a vinegar tinge to the pie. Delicious.


Last but certainly not least, came the Regular Pie, little cheese and sauce. On this one, we went sausage only. Not too much, but a little extra fat to balance out the light cheese. It was perfect. Once again, the sauce is just too good. It's just what I want on a pizza, and reminded me of a place I used to eat at as a kid, which is no longer with us. I got a side of the hot peppers ($.75) but they weren't really necessary. With a menu this small, I don't think you can go wrong. Just remember, cash only, bring your own beer or wine, and CALL AHEAD to reserve your dough!